Staff reports large data-center site plan to DRC; commissioners ask whether on-site power options are limited

Staff told the Planning Commission on Tuesday that the Development Review Committee (DRC) had received a site-plan application for a large data center on the city's south end, and commissioners questioned whether the city's development agreement or code definitions limit on-site power generation options.

Community development staff said the proposed data center would be “about 320,000 square feet” and located southwest of the Ford dealership on the far south end of town. The application will be reviewed at DRC and does not automatically come to the Planning Commission because of recent state legislative changes affecting review authority for some projects.

Commissioners asked staff whether the approved development agreement for the project restricts types of on-site energy generation. One commissioner asked directly, “I have 1 quick question on that data center. We approved that they could make their own power on-site. We did not restrict what kinds of power they could ... do to create that power, did we?” Staff said the development-agreement definition for on-site power-generation had been reviewed with the city attorney during the agreement drafting and that the intent was not to allow certain technologies, but staff did not point to a specific prohibition on particular technologies in the meeting record.

When a commissioner raised the example of modular or containerized nuclear units, staff and other commissioners discussed that the existing definition covers on-site production of electricity, heat or steam. One commissioner noted there was no explicit, textual prohibition against nuclear within the current on-site-power definition and said the city could add restrictions if desired; others said the project team did not intend to use nuclear technology. No code amendment or formal restriction was adopted at the meeting.

The data-center site plan will proceed through DRC review for detailed engineering and site-plan questions; the commission was provided the notice as an informational update rather than a land-use action.